TARA DACTYL
Special to the Lampoon
The College Foundation has partnered with Amazon in an effort to raise money for scholarships for Fredonia students. Members of the College Foundation are thrilled to have the opportunity to be able to fundraise and give students assistance where they need it most: paying for tuition.I got a chance to sit down with Dr. Donald Tiffton, Vice President for University Advancement and Executive Director of the Fredonia College Foundation, to discuss this new partnership.
Tara Dactyl: How did this partnership come about?
Donald Tiffton: Well, tuition here keeps going up and up — the administration realizes that. So, now more than ever, we wanted to make efforts to help students and ease that financial burden. When looking around for fundraising ideas, we came across Amazon and their AmazonSmile program. We contacted them, wrote up a contract and here we are!
TD: How much money do you expect to raise through this partnership?
DT: Lots! Just think about how many people buy stuff on Amazon! The majority of people I know, when they do online shopping, do it through Amazon.com. So now, people can still do all their normal shopping, but some of that money will go towards scholarships for students. We’re anticipating receiving nearly six digits in funds raised.
TD: But only items bought on AmazonSmile will be eligible for that donation. That’s not entirely the same as Amazon. Do you think people will willingly switch over and use AmazonSmile?
DT: What?
TD: Ya. Items bought on the regular Amazon site won’t donate any money to Fredonia. That’s the point of AmazonSmile. There are a ton of other Fredonia organizations on AmazonSmile, including the Fredonia Volunteer Fire Department, Alumni Association and the Student Association. So do you think that out of all the other organizations, people will choose to donate to the College Foundation?
DT: What? Oh. I mean, I would hope that people would choose to donate to the College Foundation.
TD: So you think the College Foundation is more important than the Student Association or the Fire Department?
DT: Yes. No. Yes — well, maybe people could buy items and donate to each of them, you know? Spread the charity around a little. Because with 5 percent of proceeds donated, that all adds up pretty quickly. Over time, people will have no problem spending money and, ultimately, donating to many different organizations.
TD: Dr. Tiffton, it’s .5 percent — as in half of a percent. Not 5 percent.
DT: What?
TD: Only .5 percent of all proceeds get donated to the College Foundation.
DT: What? Are you sure? I could have sworn we agreed on 5 percent.
TD: Yes, AmazonSmile donates .5 percent only, no matter what the organization is. That means in order to donate
$5 to the College Foundation, let alone any other organization, you would have to spend $1,000 on AmazonSmile.
DT: What the f*ck.